ESIP Federation Promotes Data Life Cycle Collaboration During Winter 2012 Conference

The ESIP Federation held its winter meeting in Washington, DC from January 4-6, 2012, with more than 170 participants attending. Focused on a theme of Connections Through Collaboration: Engaging Community Throughout the Data Life Cycle, the ESIP Federation heard from experts, practitioners and users about current and future collaborations.  “The ESIP Federation’s community of practitioners work collaboratively to connect data, systems, people and organizations,” said Karl Benedict, ESIP Federation President and Director of the Earth Data Analysis Center at the University of New Mexico.  “We are seeing connections across sectors, domains and agencies, all with a goal of improving the use and utility of science data. The meeting pointed out many of these connections and drew attention to how the ESIP Federation is helping to connect so many disparate pieces.”

The meeting included keynote talks from Tim Killeen, National Science Foundation’s Geoscience Directorate and Jack Kaye, NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, the meeting exposed many worthwhile partnerships already in place and the promise of forming new partnerships that enable integrated science practices. The meeting also featured a panel representing NASA’s Applied Sciences Program, NOAA’s Integrated Ocean Observing System, USGS’s Community for Data Integration and EPA’s Office of the Science Advisor. Additional featured talks were given by Adrian Gardner, NASA Goddard, William Gunn, Mendeley, Ltd. and Ed Maibach, George Mason University.

In other business during the meeting, the ESIP Federation’s Assembly adopted Data Stewardship Principles and Data Citation Guidelines. (See both at http://bit.ly/yoUv96.) These statements of principle represent the collective effort of many during the past two years, especially the work of the ESIP Federation Data Preservation and Stewardship Cluster. The work of this Cluster also was recognized for its many contributions with the Cluster formally becoming the ESIP Federation’s Data Stewardship Committee.

Other meeting highlights included:
·      Workshops on Project Evaluation, Discovery Services and Cloud Computing
·      Earth Science Collaboratory Charrette
·      Energy: Dynamic Decision Tools Catalog and Community of Practice
·      Poster Session and Reception

The ESIP Federation is a consortium of Earth science data and technology professionals spanning government (NASA, NOAA, EPA, USGS, NSF), academia and the private sectors (both commercial and nonprofit). The organization is dedicated to transforming research data and information into useful and usable data and information products for decision makers, policy makers and the public. Initiated by NASA in 1997, the ESIP Federation provides data, products and services to decision makers and researchers in public and private settings. The Foundation for Earth Science provides administrative and staff support to the ESIP Federation.

Contacts:
Karl Benedict
President, Federation of Earth Science Information Partners

Carol Meyer
Executive Director, Foundation for Earth Science
919.870.7140